Zodiac Hunter
by Logan Roschevla
Summary: This is an original story I will to publish one day, so I am posting it here so I can get an idea of how the public view it, I hope you enjoy it.
1. Prologue (July 7th, Year 4278)

The wind whistled, carrying on the back of a freshly loosen tumble weed. The three moons blinked through clouds, shimmering on the floor like the reflect of water. The very small village was blanketed by a thicket of snow. Scuystein, a sweet county that was in permanent winter. Many mountains stabbed the blackened sky, their jagged arms holding it up from the sheet of below white. Tall pines littered the landscape, some close to another and a few dispersed. The land shed tears of snowflakes, but tonight the sky had stilled. A long river that cut through the valley behind the mountains was frozen, thick enough to skate till your heart contented, yet thin enough for aquatic life to pass through. Above it connecting the frozen wedge between the village was a cobblestoned bridge. The arch was outlined by concrete bricks, old but held tight. Rocks scrambled from the mountains stacked upon another like an ancient puzzle. The rock way path was smooth, thanks to the people keeping it in good condition, as it was created by their ancestors. The stone railing was lined with ice stone, so if you slipped, you had something to hold onto that could hold you.

The houses were small and cosy, all with working fire places with chimneys. The glass insulating were all handmade, as the village did everything themselves, other than the traders that came by. The people here lumbered wood, harvested stone and a couple mined. Some were blacksmiths, some hunters and others did odd jobs around the tight knit community.

A Land Orca ran in the background, chasing a Lake Runner. A couple of Freenix flew under the cloud lines, small Snew's wiggling into frosted bushes and an adult Valhalla snuck behind some houses and raced down the road of solid liquid into the wintered night. A lone Minotaur and his smaller son thick in winter cloth and a heavy sack carrying home, hoping to have a hot soup dinner. The homes were made of stone, marble, thatched wood and roofs over the doors. Some with gardens, some without. Some climbing wings of smoke dotted the backer landscape, showing how diverse the village was. The pathways made by the many people using them, thin trenches carved by feet, hooves and paws alike. Stars sung as they danced twinkle.

A man of elder walked through the village as the people had all locked their doors, settling to put the young people asleep and to have dinner. His weary eyes looked at moons, and then back to his task at hand. His hair was silvered with age, slick back revealing his wrinkled and olden face. On the left side the strands were braided, it dangled down to below the chin, sometimes tipping his rounded gold stud on his ear. His listless blue eyes looked side to side, taking in the basking sight. The man's moustache melted into his flowing beard, which at times tickled his neck. He wore a long cape, it was thick enough the cold couldn't bite his loose and pale flesh, it had a hood that covered his head to save his ears. It covered his entire body, save the thick boots. Though old he had muscle on him, as his journey required it.

He walked. Some people looking through their windows to look at the traveller. The same Minotaur left his family's home, walking up to the man. His fur was black, eyes a shining green. His wet nose twitched at the shivered clung breeze, the man looked at the pupiless green, pleased to see something that reminded him of his origins. The Minotaur's ears flapped a tad, concerned for why an elderly man was out in such a lone area. The man appreciated the concern, also pleased to finally meet a Minotaur that wasn't hungry to punch him where the moons did not glow. A Minotara showed herself in the doorway, seeing as to why her husband had left the comfort of their home, a calf in her woollen arms and a little boy behind her leg. The Minotaur was Xymax, just a common man living in the wilderness with his family. The younger boy gave the man some coco, and when the elderly thanked he continued his quest, leaving the family to return their home.

Hmm those were the days. He remembered how strong Minotaur's could be, carrying such hammers they could belong to a giants. Xymax must be a blacksmith or a lumber jack, or he was into more peaceful things. What a dream to have a family here within the mountains. The three largest, forming a sort of griffin's claw were Dagolz, Grabiks and Qriinn, named after the three moons. He was heading for Qriinn, it held something he wished before death left its graze. The clouds that left his lips trailed a little like a slow moving train, and in the dark of the night, he knew he was being followed.

The man sat on the bridges rock railing, he didn't mind the cold, he was too old to really mind. The young man now standing in front of him looked down, his eyes blank and puffs of heated air chuffed from the mask. He was 6'3 foot, around twenty years of age. On his face was a very thin metallic band that sat snuggly over his face on the bridge on his nose and cheek bones, with a black material that hid his nose and mouth, as well as his neck from the human eye. The man had brown hair that looked like it was in a constant gust of wind, due to its shape. It was spiked back, expect for two bangs that bounced above his half-hidden face. Curved around the back of his head was what looked like metal that had a dark crimson maroon colour with silver rims. On the sides obscuring his ears, were two more metal pieces that formed a sort of square, semi-circle like, crescent form that stopped at his brown eyebrows and seemed to be attacked to the thing over his face at the sides as the other half of the crescent thing was over the fabric. Under that was a similar thing too. Attached to that looked to be a scarf like thing that went around the front as well as the back, keeping them from moving around at the front were two band like things. On his shoulders were metal cup like plates, the same red colour with a silver rim around it, and they connected to the under armour to keep it in place. On the left side, his arm had a black sleeve that became fingerless gloves. On his right arm the black tight fabric topped mid bicep, though not on the other side. His muscular form seemed to be not too large but not too small, a perfect size. On both arms, strapped around his muscles were armoured plating. One piece for his elbows, the next for his forearm and then over the back of his hand and fingers. He wore a sort of skin tight thick hide instead of metal that defended his arms. The shoulders and half if each pec was covered in the same black colour as the scarf thing around his neck hanging loosely. The rest was a very slightly lighter shade of maroon that was on his armour. For his bottoms, they looked like trousers, but were baggy, tough and flexible. The boots he wore looked to be military, though with modifications to look like it suited his armour. The sclera of his eyes was as black as sin, like onyx and obsidian molten into one, the irises were a shining gold, almost glowing with the moon's touch.

The man looked up at the younger man's alien eyes. It was interesting to have such a change of colour around here. The armour was unique, a dwarf's work obviously. Edwin Barber, was the old man's name. Would they fight and disturb this land? Or would they simply discuss this? Edwin was hoping to reach that mountain, and he'd be damned if he wouldn't make it.

Edwin knew his life was worth too much money. Three million Glaxza last time he had checked. He was a Dragon Soul, and they paid a lot. Sadly everything aged, even when your soul was tied to something as magnificent as a dragon. Aria was dying, and so was Edwin. People say that you get the lifespan of a dragon, but in reality, they got the span of a human. Edwin chuckled. He'd thought that when he got that dragon egg, oh was he wrong, and here he was, dying of old age with his dear Aria.

The young man continued to stand there, staring into Edwin, seemingly unfazed by the cold. He just stood there, not talking, but then he started looking to the side, watching the mountains ever so slowly prick the ringed lined moons. The middle was the largest, the second was just above it on the left, and the third was right below the second, the smallest of them. The mountains were named after these moons, and it was an ingenious idea to do so, ignoring the fourth mountain. Seeing as the mountains and moons had always touched at last light, they were properly named. The old man sipped the coco he'd been given by the calf Minotaur, enjoying it.

The boy was going to try and claim his death yes. Money could make the best of people do the darkest of things. He sighed, watching the moons slowly descend, just so it can be night elsewhere. Slowly he stood up, and begun walking out of the nice little village. The whispers of freeze aiming to send him to warmth, but he refused their offer. The two walked until there was no longer a house near enough to hear. Edwin turned around to stare eye to eye with the new assassin. He would fall just like the rest.

They stared at each other. The boy taking out a chokuto, the blade made of pure diamond, so pure in fact it looked translucent but he could see it well enough. The thing that interested him was that it wasn't possible to have made a blade like that, so he thought that the boy was most likely a Free Style kinda warrior. His favourite kind of challenge, even at this age. Edwin pulled out his own blade, it was chinked and rust, but it was enough.

In seconds the sound of two spoons clapping and a sharp skid of blades rang. Foot marks on the white appearing. Their choices of weapons did all the talking, jabbing and swiping. Old against new. Short sword against chokuto. Edwin kicked snow up into the young man's eyes, kneeing his stomach and the blade digging through shoulder. The young man spun himself, Edwin losing his grip and the chokuto spilling molten ruby onto the frozen watered ground. The young'un pulled the short blade from its fleshy seethe, the blade with reddened steel laying. Edwin, a red smile cut from his cloak, rolled and in during he grabbed the hilt, a part of his hood parting ways with the aid of the opposing sword. He found the warmth of pain, but did not deter.

The young man kicked high, the foot caught by the elder. Younger span his body, his foot leaving the pristine blanket and into the older man's face, causing release of both his foot and blood from the old man's lips. Edwin spat the remaining metallic taste on the floor, glaring into the eyes of the young man. And that young'un was DriftRider, hired for the head of Edwin.

They clashed again, blades pushing against one another like wind and sail. They ceased the struggle, pulling back. Edwin waved his sword down onto a pauldron, while DriftRider rose his own bladed hand, to cut up the old man's armpit. The pain of his damaged shoulder delayed reaction times, and Edwin was feeling tired as the escaping blood and bitter bludgeoning cold pushing energy from him. Shaking his head, Edwin's form shimmered as light called for the reason he was there. If he was going to die, it would not be alone.

The young man knew what Edwin was doing, using his thumb to undo a hidden pocket in his chest armour, the thumb went into the hole of the kunai, and flicked the smaller pointed metal into the old man's knee as a distraction. Edwin growled in pain, leaving it be as it would be foolish to remove a weapon from a wound. The swords clashed, having a fight of their own, creating an ear piercing music that frightened away the monstrous creatures of the area.

To the dismay of DriftRider the call was made and was received. He skated out of the way of wilted spines of solid fire. Dragon Souls were a very rare, extremely so, to come across let alone fight. Few lived, because the dragon was always with their rider. Edwin had missed Aria, the dragoness feeling the same. She roared, the echo causing an avalanche on a neighbouring mountainous pile of stones glued by time.

The Amphithere, a dragon with only wings and no other limbs, flew down, her wings tucking and her slithering around Edwin to protect him. She was mostly black, her small scales looking as if she was entirely smooth like a worm. Along her spine was long upright fur in neon red, that looked soft but with her in elderly it was likely to not be so, all uneven and separated from her scales by a rockier pattern. Aria's tail was feathers with the same colour, all in the same neon red, and it was like they were plucked from the fastest bird. Her wings were much too large for her long and snakelike body, but she made it work. The arms and digits were thickly black, she had a sharp clawed finger that twitched a little as she was angered by the young man. The webbing of her wings were strained, a duller red that had holes and tears of weary. Her head had three horns, and from those horns were antenna like protrusions, muscle red and acting as her ears. From what would be her chest were five thin spikes in the same gradient from black to red. Her eyes looked to be a glowing hole in rock, smouldering orange that made the outward sunken sockets shimmer with hue. The scales on her pointed head were like plates of rock against each other, the look making her more intimidating. She had no lips, her teeth were jagged stone that all fitted together to hide where her mouth began and ended, except for a faint glow of the ablaze within her closed maw. Her snout was pointed, showing no sign of nostrils. Protruding from her chin was a curving spike, from that a thin withered fin he same colour as her wings, it sloped down her neck till no more.

DriftRider took a step back from the beast, Edwin stepping onto her uncoiling tail and placed upon her head, him smiling at the young'un. A million different things went through DriftRider's head at once, the one thing that stuck was- _ZWHIISH_ his train of thought was cut off was a large muscled tail swung, nearly taking off his head. The only thing he could do was drop to the snow floor, rolling back onto his feet as he had to dodge that tail again. The chokuto would not suffice against a full seasoned Amphithere as mad as leviathan.

Edwin squinted his eyes as he watched the young man carefully, seeing what the kid could do. Aria rose herself, from her stomach to her chest beginning to crackle with glow. Her rocky jaw unlatched, and a stream of lava splashing at the young man like a water gun. She shook off small droplets that clung to the shallow ravines between her thicker stone scales, creating scars in the snow. When the lava cooled, a rough and heated curved shield of diamond protected DriftRider from the Amphithere's molten breath. In response, she wrapped her tail around it, pinning him against the exceedingly hot curving wave of gem. The heat settling into his armour and beginning to sting his skin. His ribs on the left side snapped like crackers, creating audible pops that pleased the breed of draconian.

DriftRider bit his lip, refusing to release a sound. From his palm formed a diamond pike, and he slammed down, it barely piercing her hide. He did it again and again as she went tight and tighter. As he looked into those eyes, the gulping mouths of volcanos, he broke through the scales to the skin. The damage wasn't much, but it was enough to loosen her due to surprise, and he got out of there.

The burning in his chest was far worse than any fire she could dealt, though DriftRider may eat his words if he got a free shower of melting reds and yellows. He turned his hips and body, pointing the upper half towards the beast and his lower to the side. His fist clenched and smashed it into his open palm, and as he pulled the clenched fist away, he began growing a diamond broadsword from it, feeling that his chokuto was not strong enough.

Edwin scowled, seeing the young'un could self-generate diamond from his body. It wasn't the most insane thing he seen, but it was still unique. Aria hissed, the sound of a kettle screaming her end of heating, nails upon chalk board and butter knives on china. The young man was still very injured from having a sword in his shoulder, not to mention the other damage dealt by the Dragon Soul duo. DriftRider held the sword tight, him using both the bad shoulder and the uncut one, it'd be impossible to kill the Amphithere, so he needed to go for his target, Edwin. Blood trailed behind him, with only gorges in the snow went behind the species of dragon. Edwin tapped his thumb into the hole of a throwing knife, flinging it straight into DriftRider. The scale forged material made short work of the armour, almost into the heart. DriftRider grunted as he begun shielding his organs with diamond casing. To protect his heart, he needed it be like a beetles back, the armour to be in separate places to be able to move.

DriftRider thought things over, seeing his chances were zip. Him vs an Amphithere. Chances of his surviving were getting slimmer and slimmer as blood dripped further from the cast of his skin. Aria uncoiled her tail, the force smacking him backwards, rolling in the snow. Before he could get up, she slammed a wing down over a leg, enjoying the vibrations of the bone splintering beneath her weight. Aria creaked open her heavy jaw, magma over pooling from her crevassed mouth. An X of spiralling flames knocked her to the side, the shower of steaming death missing DriftRider. Edwin hissed as part of his cloak became on flamed, able to dabble it away before his skin became marked.

It was an Anthro, a German Shepard make, about 5'9. his ears were a dark brown as were two lines that grew like trees from his snout to below his eyes melding to his cheek fur. He was mostly a dark grey. But around his eyes, under his tail, the sides and under his snout, his neck to chest and lower abdomen to between his thighs were a musky beige. He wore a dark green tank top with a red dragon on the back. His bottoms were black and ballooned, and a dark green pouch strapped around the right thigh containing throwing knives. He had blue tape tied around from the beginning of his paws to the end of his ankles, as well as around his wrists. He had black fingerless gloves, showing his humanoid fingers in that sand shade. On his head, against his right ear was a bandana with a silver plate at the front, engraved in it was a flame in tribal design and had two dark blue pieces flowing from behind. The Anthro ran to his friend, seeing DriftRider was not going to be getting up on his own. He'll be out of commission for a while, three months if he was lucky. Edwin rose a brow to the new young one, knowing him well compared to the other. Kodan, a young Anthro raised by a dragon and given the gift of its sun breath. Kodan scowled up, excited to fight an Amphithere but unsure if he'd be able to kill the two.

Edwin climbed down from his Aria, the breed of dragon lowering her head and nudging his side, hissing steam at the new opponent. Edwin picked up the quickly made sword of diamond, pointing it at Kodan, the young Anthro scowling. Kodan's maw opened, a ball of flame rearing. Aria opened her own and released a spiral of lava, Kodan let rip his own tower of fire, so far, the two at a standstill. Aria's body moved, sounding like rain on old wood. She pointed her lava downwards, Kodan breathing the dragon's breath upwards to shield him and his dear ally. The dome of molten rock doming round them, the heat nearly unbearable for the human while the Anthro was fine. The Amphithere roared in frustration. Old or not, this would not be clean. The snow was turning black, their rage feeding the white to corrupting black.

Kodan growled, bearing his gums and splattering his drool. Aria opened her wings, the two limbs of flight beating the air violently as she slowly started to rise off of the ground. The Anthro ignited his feet with flames and proceeded to assault the beast of a dragon with a powerful fire-enhanced kick, with the flames greatly augmenting the power of said kick. The dragon did not feel much pain, and was not fazed by the attack of fire, he only managed to get her angered even more. The Anthro sucked in a deep breath and fired another pillar of the suns kiss, the dragon releasing a geyser of lava that pushed back the German shepherd. The gusts of gale rushing from the dragon's wings spraying the burning hells tears towards the town, a lightning bolt struck down the lave to the ground that sizzled and fizzled before turning to blacken, white slowly drizzling atop. Edwin and the Amphithere looked to the new comer, spotting him near the town.

The Wolf Anthro was around 8' foot, as intimidating as they could come. Sora stared into Edwin's eyes, his desire to defend the small village evident. Most of his fur was a sandy beige, parts darkened thanks to the shade gifted by the black sky. If he was on four legs, his underbelly would be a paler sand, the backs of his legs and forelegs being the same colour. Sora wore a fur tight mask that covered his entire face other than his eyes and holes for his ears to poke through. His eye colour was lightning yellow, like fresh sparks. Sora's upper armour had two dagger like shoulder pads that went a bit above his shoulders, looking as intimidating as his height. It was a deep grey, going down in a V shape over the rest of his upper armour and tucking under his similarly coloured belt. The rest was a light black, though perfectly outlining his muscles. Around his waist was a sort of loin cloth made of the same tough material. On his feet/paws Sora had leg warmers in black, started just above his angles and stopping where his paw pads began. His tail was long and bushy, normally stilled behind him. Attached to Sora's back was a seethed katana he had named 'Quicksilver' whose blade was like freshly settled moon light. The hilt of the sword was crossed with black and dark purple, a tassel for dark ribbon attacked to the end. The seethe itself was dull in grey, though had a small shine to it. An Anthro that manipulates lightning, a human that manipulates diamond and an Anthro that manipulates fire? What a strange band of assassins.

The Wolf Anthro appeared in front of the older man in a flash of light, deathly silent. The oddly large beast jumped backwards as a tail covered in scale and muscle tried to squish him under it. Edwin gripped his old blade, pointing it towards the lightning user. The Dragon Soul waited as Sora walked towards him, but before he got too close Kodan stopped him. As he wasn't a good enough pairing against Aria he was going to take on the old man. It took a monster, to slay a monster, after all.

Edwin glared as Kodan's feet caught on fire as did his wrists, burning with the purpose of propulsion. Edwin breathed deeply through his nose and swung the blade as if it was a part of his arm, the Anthro leaning backwards to dodge the thrust and flew his left leg to the side, kicking the hilt of the sword, the action bringing a smell cut on his paw. Edwin got the grip back sooner than later and drove it down, it becoming stuck in the Anthro's thigh. It would take far more than that to do Edwin in, when he died it would be old age.

Aria hissed as she watched her rider fight the fire breathing dog, her attention drawn away. Sora pulled his hand back, fingers and claws apart as sparking light filled his palm with loose tendrils flittering towards the stars. With his powerful limbs, he leapt at the enormous beast, slashing down, causing damage to the monster and scarring her face. She erupted lava all over the wolfish creature, but Sora morphed into lightning and darted out of the way, the Amphithere continuing to gush the melting juice all over where he used to be. Sora jumped up from behind and held onto the red hair like spines on her back, not a single sound emanating from him. His hands became enveloped in a white translucent light like hue with purple faintly glowing around them, slightly shaped like monster's claws. He dug his new claws within the beast, the Amphithere roared, if the pitch rose a single octave then ears would be filled with red.

Edwin picked up his sword, aimed and flung it into the Anthro's back. Lightning users were hard to kill, but it caused the said user to let go of the hurt Amphithere. He had torn through muscle and damaged a bone that connected to her right wing, prohibiting her from flight. The Anthro looked at the foreign invader to his body, his pawlike hand wrapping around the hilt of the old blade and quickly pulled it out, vermillion marathoning down his armoured back. The Dragon Soul was furious that his dear Aria was damaged, her wing would take longer time than they had to heal.

The old man yelped as a diamond sword went through his side, the young one who started this battle was on his feet, his broken leg stabilised in a cast of diamond. Though he wore a mask, the smile was felt. The two Anthro's watch the Amphithere and the old man fall to the ground, the damage was slowly covered by the still falling snow. The blade had cut into his heart, but the old man dragged his final breaths towards his dragon, a hand on her aching rocked jaw. The three waited, until the rasping merged with the whistling wind, two souls combined as one joining the many stars.


	2. Chapter 1 (July 13th, Year 4278)

It was in the country Vreucurora in a small county named Skein Strijan. There were many houses built in brick with slate roofs, stone details and modest decoration of wooden beams. Bakeries, banks, butchers and shops of other kinds splattered all over the place. Some were shops with homes above them. But in the centre of it all, was the market square, where everybody flocked like sheep. In the middle of this bustled space was a carving of marble done by the founders hundreds of years before. On four sides were stairways, only by eight short steps. The stone stage had a white structure in the middle, white as ivory on a podium. Four ogives on each side, giving an arch like look. On top of them was a square slab with the images of monsters ingeniously carved in, and atop that was a small spire aiming at Tosmiea the sun.

The sky whistled and hummed among the clouds and creatures that lived the breeze. Then there were other noises. The pitter patter of hundreds and hundreds of feet walking across stone pathways. Wooden carts dragged by Brynn, small Goalin's blurting with ropes around their necks tied to stalls and even a small pack of Greystrip's scurried through the bustling crowd. From Elves to Dwarves, Fairies to Gargoyles, Imps to Naga's, Werewolves to Centaurs and Humans to Fauns, there was nearly one of everything in a market place. The smell of hundreds of types of food plagued the air, the shines of tapestries and jewels and silver brimmed the sights as the sun reflected forth.

There were market stalls of all sizes and shapes, some held up by sticks breaking the skin of the ground while others were set up properly with nails and wood. All filled with merchandise of all kinds filled with wondrous things. The pathways were old stone carved from mountains many centuries ago, perhaps the oldest things in the town. Every second money was exchanged and traded, some were ripped off and others got a deal. The sounds of trades sung, hummed and roared. The in harmony creating a harmonious sense of the older days. Two men stalked among the crowd of the strange but wonderful, both looking for something in particular.

"Can't believe Drift went after that Dragon Soul on his own, now we have to get the stuff to fix him up. Not to mention the double dogs that followed him." Salem snorted nastily, his partner Sombra just looking at him with an unsure look on his face "Don't look at me like that Sombra, you know it was dumb as well. They owe me, big time!" Salem's glared whose pupiless pale blue eyes that freaked out anyone that looked into them. The man had hair that looked like white flames, spiked up and against gravity with a long bang dangling over his right eye, a silver ring dangling from his right ear. He was about 6'0, muscular and fair skinned. Just beneath his chiselled but smooth jawline was a scar in the shape of jagged star, near kissing the Adams apple. Around his shoulders and back, fitting neatly over his skin was dark navy blue armoured fabric with a white rim. It connected to a purely black obi like shirt, but at the same time it was almost like a dress, as the obi covered his lower body to the middle of his thighs. He had a belt in the same dark blue with buckle, made from Tuskcect horn. From the belt, a rectangle of fabric covering over his crotch, also with dark blue rims. His under shirt was the blue with white rims, showing in the v neck. On his arms and hands were fingerless gauntlets of the same material, a dusk blue with navy blue rims, and one line dragging over the top and stopped just above his elbow. He wore baggy purely white bottoms, fluttering as he ran, loose but not loose enough to be in his way. His boots were dusky blue at base, the pointed tips as white as his hair and as the rest of his clothes he had blue rims. Sombra just shook his head, taking out a piece of paper that was basically their shopping list "Why couldn't you have done this on your own? Or is Daddy Drift scared his precious lil monster will get lost?" Sombra glared angrily at the insult.

"Silence before I remove your tongue!" Sombra snapped, eye twitching. Of all the people, he got stuck with Salem. The man was larger than Salem, at the height of 6'3. He had a pair of circular, heavily tinted, wire-framed orange sunglasses with goggle sidings. His hair moved like smoke or black fire, it didn't react to gravity at all. He had two piercings on each side of his nose, three under each his eyes and eight on each on his elf like ears. His outfit was comprised of a full-length, and black frock overcoat (like a duster coat) with cape. The boots were black too, military and cowboy combined in one. Beneath his coat was a very, very deep blue, midnight navy tank top. And he had black pants on. His belt looked like many pieces of equal metal snaking around his waist, though it was a mystery why that was. Salem stuck out his tongue at the other man "You are living proof that manure can sprout legs and walk," he pouted at the older man, showing off how childish Salem really was. Hopefully they had enough Blyfak to get what Nushala put on their list.

"What is it we have to get that you can't get on your own," Salem complained, despising the busy streets filled with all shapes and sizes "As long as I'm getting that Vortex Grenade Nushala promised me, guess it can't be all bad, other than you being here."

"Go and get one then, they're 10 Blyfak's here, not that you've been entrusted with the money." Sombra sighed, noting the idiots gambling problem. He stopped at a store, reading the name The Graceful Wand, a magic shop. He checked his list, and then walked inside, Salem begrudgingly followed.

It was a little dark compared to the bright sunny outdoors as if the limits of reality were out there while there were no such limitations within. The walls had a rainbow of greys splitting along the walls, fifty shades of grey or more. Along the shelves tons of magical items waited for their new owners, potions to skulls and books to other crafts. Scrolls to summon demons and ways to become a Demon Harnesser, not that people were mad enough to try it. Small lights floated like slow motion fireflies, lighting up the room enough to see the produce for sale. There were a few lit floating candles, though they were out of the way, about three tables were visible, excluding the counter. A cauldron was in the corner as well. On these tables were things from wands to vision orbs, even a couple enchanted rune stones.

Salem looked in a jar of green liquid that held a bunch of eyes, jumping back as they all blinked in unison. He shivered commenting on the through the roof creepiness levels of the place. Even Sombra agreed, and he'd seen some weird and not so wonderful things. They turned to hear a door creek open, deliberately not oiled to add to the weirdness.

It was a shock to see a Kihlajasa running the store; normally it was an elf or a witch? The dark navy-blue colouring meant this was a she, as the males had pink skin. She was small for a Kihlajasa, only 7'8. Her face was scaled like a fish, no nose visible. Her eyes were glowing green orbs, no sclera in sight, neither the pupils. Her mouth looked normal despite not having lips and had a line down her chin, and her cheek bones were visible as a line was over them as well. Her strange tail started where her nose should've been, the form going up and came out of the top of her head that trailed down to a length larger than herself, so it curved upwards at the end to keep off the ground. Her hair was slicked back in a bright white colour, shining against the light. Her ears were large and split into two pieces the tips being a much darker blue. Her shoulders were normal but her lower arms were a meter long. On her shoulders and upper arms had small black spots which looked a little cute if they weren't poisonous. The Kihlajasa had two sets of arms, the smaller set being, well, smaller than the upper set. Her thighs were fine but after her knees it looked an ostrich's lower legs with the second knee being backwards. On her feet had three toes and one on the back. She wore Kihlajasa armour. A black outfit that fitted to her bizarre muscles, showed off her shoulders, covered her neck and like a swim suit went around her crotch leaving her thighs bare. Her left upper arm had a black band, and both of her lower arms had long black gauntlets with a purple spike at the end and had neon amethysts where her wrists should be. Around her thighs were black bands, the one on the left had a bag most likely where she put her money. Her shoes went over her knees then at her second knees had glowing amethysts at both sides and her toes were visible as they were sort of like bird talons.

"What can I help you two with?" she said with a sort of accent they couldn't place. The large being stalked towards them. Her strange eyes boring deep into theirs. Salem ignored her and looked around, finding everything was freaky.

"I am in need of Komodo Saliva, Hippocampus Scale, Hippogriff Feather, Vampire Dust and Ent Bark…" he paused, looking back at the piece of paper "Blood-Forged Grimoire, Firethorn Wolf Wand, Wind Ocarina, Phantom Beads and… sextant. What is that?" Sombra looked at Salem who was tapping on the cage of some kind of bird cat rat thing.

"An instrument with a graduated arc of 60° and a sighting mechanism, used for measuring the angular distances between objects and especially for taking altitudes in navigation and surveying." The Kihlajasa explained for him, taking the piece of paper instead of having him read it all out. Sombra watched her collecting things he'd seen and not seen before, thinking over the instruments name. Why sextant? There had to be a much better name "That'll be 980 Blyfak's." Sombra sighed as he paid, keeping an eye on Salem who was now poking at Lotus Piranhas, basically piranhas with a lotus on its head. Sombra manipulated the shadows, forcing Salem to sit in the middle of the room. Salem looked at the door as a figure walked inside, and one following it. He rose a brow at the fact they were in cloaks, people only ignored idiots like that in movies, but they stick out like sore thumbs in reality. Sombra thanked her, doing a polite bow in her honour "No problem," the Kihlajasa said to the polite man, going back to her work.

Him and Salem left, the latter looking at stalls he passed in hope of seeing some Vortex Grenades, though he didn't see any. They stopped as two people stood in their way, looking very out of place, even for Skein Strijan, for this specific town anyways. Sombra swore he saw a goblin earlier, and they're more in place than these two.

The first looked like a young teenage human with black hair that covered his eyes. He had a blue jumper with a darker blue hoodie. As well as a black undershirt. He had black trousers and black shoes, barely anything that could be seen as worth taking another glance at other than his pale skin.

The other was much larger. He wasn't even wearing a shirt. His right wrist was bandaged, showing signs of battle. His bottoms were a dark grey that for some reason turned into socks like he'd cut a onesie in half. His shoes looked like sandals, in crimson red. The man's right shoulder had a tribal flame tattoo in maroon while on the collar bone he had six little flame tattoos. His hair was dark black as well while his eyes was mustard yellow, the pupils in a shin X shape.

"I am Kaiyō, and this is my brother Ryuukei…" they ignored the smaller one, the boy smiling. Coming from the boys back four thick tentacles with hexagon scales in purple waved, the metallic shine playing off on whatever light came through. A Demon Harnesser? This was interesting. Salem grinned, feeling the chance to punch someone's face in. feeling these two were trying to rob him, Sombra decided to let them know he didn't have much of value.

"All we have is from that shop; the prices are reasonable so you don't have to thieve from me. What is it you two are in need of?" Sombra said politely, slapping the back of Salem's head who glared fire at him. The two brothers narrowed their eyes, mostly on Sombra. Sombra narrowed his eyes behind his goggles, not liking the situation they were in. why couldn't anything be simple?

"Sombra Darkrai and Salem Sinbad, I think it's best we talk somewhere more privately," the one named Ryuukei said their full names. It was only frightening when mothers did it, but for strangers at grown men it was just creepy. They were most likely bounty hunters, which was not a surprise. Salem was an ass to everybody and Sombra, well, he wasn't called The Nightmare for no reason. Salem snorted, cocking back his fist and punching the taller one square in the face with a big grin. And now he'd started the fifteenth fight today. Sombra slapped him over the head again, his other hand holding the bag of purchase.

"Sorry…" Sombra sighed, again, shaking his head and helping Ryuukei up "What is it we need to talk about?" he asked, glaring at Salem who looked like he was going to burst with anger. Sinbad looked around, seeing how a certain Naga was watching them far too closely for his liking. Sombra had noticed the Naga as well, uncertain whether he should find out if it was by sheer coincidence they were being followed.

"Clash of Blades," Kaiyō stated. Sombra had heard of it. It was a competition of strong fighters who battle for some sort of prize every couple of years. But it was the most dangerous and violent; it was rare someone didn't die. Sombra wasn't like Salem who loved to fight, he only fought if he had to, and even then, he held back a lot "I know it doesn't interest you, but we heard that the prize is a Dimensional Grimoire that holds the Sagittarius Zodiac Stone, something your group has been working hard to track down." of course, Sagittarius would be in such a vile sport as Clash of Blades "Sombra, in exchange for a golden pass for your whole team, I want the Space Cascade sword from the Sandiruneirs, some rich people from town." he scowled, but was willing to do it to make DriftRider feel proud of him. But Sombra didn't trust this Kaiyō, as he was a Demon Harnesser. Someone who took the essence of a demon, and merged it with their body. Kaiyō held the golden pass, showing he meant his word, though it was a word that Sombra felt was empty "Go through that alleyway and look for the biggest house you can find, they'll be there."

Salem and Sombra look at each other for a few minutes, and agreed to the job. So, they walked down the streets, heading towards the Sandiruneirs house. These Sandiruneirs' better be worth it, because this could go south and fast.

They were concerned, as the Naga was still watching them. They left the main market place, going into an alleyway as a shortcut towards some rich person's house. Ogives were above them, red powdered leaves comfortably sitting in the cracks within miss matched stones cemented to the floor. Light beamed through holes and other alleyways, shining off the time ridden rocks. The builds looked out of place, made of the modern and olden times. A couple of flowers were left against the walls, showing signs that some had died here, though it was not surprising.

A few round wooden buckets lay toppled as they delved further down, attention drawn to the Naga who continued to follow them. The creature like most Naga had the lower half of a serpent and the upper portions of a humanoid. Oddly with Naga's they could be entirely snakelike or be partly human, this one seemed to be the rare few that didn't have many human attributes. His head was in the shape of a humanoid viper, blank yellow pupiless eyes then some spiked scales sticking out of the back of his head and neck. Smothering his back was a dark sandy forest green, which also covered most of his head other than a dark beige stripe through the middle of his face and his upper 'lip' if you could call it that. Dotting his back were very small clumps of yellow scales, most likely just a pattern. His neck, chest and underbelly was all dark beige, and as he was sort of stranding his scales jabbed into the cracks of the pathway visibly. Along his chest he had a small pattern of big scales slowly going into smaller scales in a V shape. He hissed, a long thin purple forked tongue waving at the air, ticking their alertness. The Naga's arms were a little longer than they should've been, thinner as well, on his hand he had four thin sharp fingers and one slightly thicker thumb. Sombra stopped, deciding to get to the bottom of this instead of feeling paranoid. Salem crossed his arms, scowling. The Naga stopped as well, his empty eyes staring into their own.

"What's your name?" Salem demanded. Sombra put his bag to the side in the possibility of a fight, not that he was pleased with the idea "Prick stick, why're you following us? We have better things to do than skin a new handbag." the Naga was obviously upset at Salem's attitude, and he wouldn't be the last.

"It's Ikkaiszash, you puppet." the insult nearly made him blow, but the other man was there to stop him "I heard you were going after the Sandiruneirs', you should know they're peaceful Deerfolk, and that the blade you two have been sent for has been given to the by the Enso Court. Meaning, if you steal it, you'll be in deeper scat than you are now." dammit, why did everything have to be so complicated? The bustles of the market place could be heard as white noise in the background as Ikkaiszash had given them info that may have saved their hides "not to mention Deerfolk are heavily protected as an endangered race, so don't go putting yourselves on a black list."

"While I thank you for the heads up, Ikkaiszash, we are in need of the golden pass that'll get us into Clash of Blades. We need that prize." Salem didn't understand the law and what the Enso's would do if they did this job, not to mention if their race was revealed "Unless you have an idea how we can get it without killing and becoming an enemy of the government, I would be pleased to hear such."

"You're the ones hunting for the stones then." The Naga hissed, slithering towards them. Sombra put his hand up, keeping Salem from attacking "Very well… they've broken a law here in Skein Strijan, now I'm hiring you to bring me the two that sent you both after Space Cascade, the reward is a golden pass. I'm sure the Sandiruneirs will be happy to help you out." the Naga had a deeper hiss in his tone, but that wasn't uncommon for their kind.

"I have a better idea. Sombra can go with you to the Sandiruneirs home and take the Space Cascade off their hands, we don't have any need for it, but it'll be safer inside of a Zaratan than in the hands of some timid deer… I'll handle those two just fine on my own," Salem said confidently. While Ikkaiszash did think it was a good idea, it was flawed. Sombra didn't trust Salem to look after a rock let alone bringing two people in alive.

"No Salem, you are not fighting anyone." Sombra growled "Ikkaiszash, tell the Enso Council about what Kaiyō and Ryuukei have attempted to do… Salem, let's go before someone else tries hiring us to do something as stupid as go against the Enso's." the older man picked up his bag and walked away. While Salem would have preferred to have done this job, he supposed it wasn't surprising that Sombra would try to avoid a fight. Pussy. But he followed anyway, the wuss was his ride home "I still have some Blyfak's left, so maybe I can get some other things as well."

Salem sighed, nodding with the older man. The Naga seemed displeased with the fact Sombra was avoiding a fight. Ikkaiszash had heard a lot about Sombra Darkrai, The Nightmare. The things Sombra could do was something to be feared, they were lucky he was more passive than most of his kind, and with Salem with him, they could be an unstoppable force. Luckily for all Jabradus, these two hated each other to the soul. A few days ago, news broke out how their little group managed to kill the Dragon Soul Edwin and Aria, making them even more feared. A human and Two Anthro's capable of taking down a dragon, and if only they could pull of that feet, what could these two do?

They walked away from the Naga, finding the day much stranger than usual. Sombra's right ear twitched slightly as the atmosphere sang danger. He ran to the spot of the danger, seeing a scarily desolate street. The only movement were the snail-paced shadows that only moved as Tosmiea, the sun, did. Salem was creeped out, more than the shop that was owned by the Kihlajasa female. Around this area the houses were slightly off the ground, on thick squares of concrete encase of flooding, them sharing the olden style of housing. White walls with wooden décor, though the glass in the windows looked recently replenished. A single wooden cart lay barren as the street, tipped like a cow on its side with a wheel still turning. On the other side of the street past a telephone pole was a large tall wall that went upwards by means of stairs minus the railings that travelled up to another level. Further down a high bridge could be seen, cubic pillars studded to the ground and holding up the out of place Bridgeway.

The top of a church could just about be seen by their eyes in the distance, but it was very disturbing. A couple of walking distance away the market is filled to overflowing of life, but here, it was deathly silent? Only an EVA could murder sound. But what kind? There were millions of those mysterious beasts racing around. Evolved Visionary Animals, more like uncontrollable monsters of the yet to be known. The creatures that could be viewed were marvellous to look at, but most of the time they were a nuisance. What beast from the eternal spinning wheel did they get?

They heard what sounded like their computers having an error then multiple beeps and more little noises. That was when it walked into the middle of the street, a Cybeon. The Cybeon's aren't kept around for their interesting looks, but for the fact they eat pests. This one was wild, thanks to its neon green colouring, meaning it was hunting.

The Cybeon had a cat like appearance, the thighs were thick and a dark blue grey, and it had a tail in the same bulginess and colouring. As it was small, it was a female. Her head sort of looked like a cute W, two large ears attached to her head. The Cybeon had the blue grey over her nose that moved around her eyes and thickly outlining her ears that connected into the large diamond like mass around her chest in the same colour. Her eyes were neon green ovals with dark green rings for irises/pupils and on the sclera, she had two lines coming from the sides of the dark rings, giving a cybernetic look. On the tip of her nose a green line rose, going into a diamond and then going over her head and down her back, crossing into a diamond on her chest.

"This cannot be good…" Salem said, looking at Sombra who also did not like the fact she was here… "Oh, there it is." Salem and Sombra both looked up to see a Dream Worm flying around with mist keeping it afloat.

The worm like creature hissed, it sounded like a baby playing a violin, very badly. It was a very dark colour they didn't exactly recognise. Blue? Purple? Bright black? It had four glowing pink spots on each side of its flat head as eyes, the mouth opened to inhale the dreams of those in slumber, a bright glow emanating from within. It had seven tentacles coming off each side of its cheeks with glowing orbs at the end, more tentacles waved out of many parts of its body, its tail had millions of bright tendrils flowing like water. Around its head were thin fin like frills of many colours like pink, blue and green. The beasts fed from dreams, if you were near one long enough they could put you into a coma.

They watched as the Cybeon clicked at it, readying to feed. They gulped and backed away, god shits in their dinner once more. Salem looked at Sombra with a knowing look, the man nervously agreeing to the fact it'd find them soon. Sombra looked at his shadow, which warped its shape into a large serpent flatter than an atom on the floor. The none-existent beast slithered on nothingness as its jaw opened and latched onto the Dream Worm's shadow, the physical creature creating a noise that sounded like nails on a chalk board in agony. The creature lowered to just above the floor and hovered away, the Cybeon going after it.

Sombra's power was to manipulate shadows. It was inhuman how powerful this ability was. He could use a shadow to harm a person's shadow, such as stabbing a sword shadow into a person's shadow and it'd kill them physically as if they'd been stabbed in the head. He held himself back enough to make this amazing power wasted upon him. Salem would love to have power like that, he could be a god! How does a pansy get that power? Sombra shot a look at him which silently told him to shut it before Salem had a chance to say anything.

They had gotten lost. Yep. Lost. Suddenly, they saw less and less of people and more and more of crumpled up newspaper tumble weeds. They had a feeling they'd soon see Kaiyō and Ryuukei as they'd abandoned their 'job' but at least they'd gotten some interesting info. They seemed to be walking down a thinner and more modern alleyway that was horribly decorated. Bland dead colours, trash all over the place, posters that had languages they couldn't read if they even tried. They could hear people and families in their home, wondering what they would come across next. They'd met a shop keeping Kihlajasa, two freak shows, a Naga telling them to piss off and now they were lost. What next? A Hippocampi riding Fire Spirit?

This was hell. How could the place suddenly go quiet? Maybe everyone evacuated when the Dream Worm had been seen, that did seem plausible but it was only one, people normally evacuated if there was a swarm of them. Salem tapped Sombra's shoulder, pulling him back. Before the other could say anything, Salem put a hand over his mouth as Ryuukei and Kaiyō walked past with a very large bag dragging behind them. They stayed hidden, closely watching the squirming bag. Sombra's shadow grabbed hold of the bag's own, tearing into it. The sack ripped open, revealing what was inside.

"Shit." Ryuukei spat out as the small fawn looked up. She was small, maybe a year old? The small Deerfolk still had her spots, showing her youth. She had ginger hair, fluffy but short. Her emerald sheen eyes looked around as her little face quivered with fear. In fright she covered her chest, not sure what else to do. She had nothing to hide, but her mommy always told her to hide herself "What do we do? I only had that one sack."

"It's fine brother. Tidofan will be a good little Deerfolk and follow us." Kaiyō scowled, making the young doe flinch "Your parents will give us Space Cascade, and as The Nightmare and his pet wouldn't get it for me, I'll use you." Salem nearly shouted at him for daring to call him a pet. Sombra felt slightly bad that he hadn't taken the job, as a kidnapped child was the result of him. He'd change that thought, and take the ticket he needed. The small doe smelt them and scampered to them, hiding between their legs.

"You… I never took you for someone to skip out on a job Sombra, I expect more class than that." Kaiyō growled angrily as the elder walked up to him, his eyes on the four limbs behind him. The small doe hugged Sombra's leg, looking up at him, seeing past the glass that hid his eyes. She eeped and went behind Salem, looking more afraid of Sombra than the other two.

"Sombra," Ryuukei said firmly, looking the man up and down "We both know what you can do, and how you're not going to use said abilities. Hand over the fawn, and we'll say we never saw you." Sombra didn't even think about the repercussions that could happen, he just held onto the small Deerfolk to keep their hands off her "Fine, Kaiyō can add you to his harness."

"He'd have to catch me first." Sombra and the Deerfolk, Tidofan, sunk into the shadows on the ground, leaving their position undetectable. Salem raised his hand, the floor behind him starting to wrap. The ground suddenly bulged, and started to go up in a curved pillar, the stoned flooring running like water? It curved, pointing at the two, drops of the liquefied ground falling onto the floor, them cracking the ground they landed on.

"SLG. Solid, Liquid and Gas, I never imagined seeing it myself." Kaiyō sniggered as one of his purple like arms stabbed into the ground, trying to get at Sombra's shadow but it was too fast for him "You can make a gas look solid but still be a gas. Make water be a gas or a solid and look like water. Make solids act like water and so forth. Quite an overpowered ability…" Salem smirked at the appreciation of his power; the solid liquid went at Kaiyō who used all four of his aliened arms to block the attack.

Sombra rose from the shadows, grabbing onto Ryuukei's feet intending to drag him down into the abyss. Ryuukei revealed his power as a violent force of gravity ripped him out of the shadows, flinging him through a building. The harsh impact of bricks against his back would surely cause bruising, and if he weren't so durable he'd surely have a broken few bones. One used Gravity while the other had torn the essence of a demon and attached it to himself. Bloody wonderful. Salem liquefied the ground, Ryuukei sinking down. The man clapped his hands and then spread them with open palms, a tremendous force of gravity splashing the watery stone through buildings. Harming random people and destroying property.

Sombra came running back, Salem raising the ground beneath him, the older man sort of surfing on the solid/liquid stone. The shadows of the buildings shivered and then climbed up his arms, morphing into large claws that made his arms look bigger as they were shrouded in black. The water wave flung him upwards, Sombra slashed down, cutting off one of Kaiyō's demon arms to the young man's fury.

Ryuukei changed the gravity around Sombra, forcing him to smash into the ground. Salem held his breath, changing his mass to a misty like gas. He could physically harm them while their attacks would go through him. Gravity didn't control the air. He laughed as Kaiyō's remaining three arms continued to wave at him but only went through. An idea came to Salem's mind and he surrounded himself around the kid, the boy being forced to breathe parts of him in. impatient, he forced himself inside of the demon harnesser's lungs, and then turned himself back into a solid, Kaiyō literally exploding from the older man emerging from his body like a bloodied phoenix.

Ryuukei called for his now dead brother, fury taking him in. the man forged a Quoba, a much less powerful version of a black hole, aiming to suck Salem into oblivion. Sombra, now free from Ryuukei's gravity, saw Salem in deeper crap than a dung beetle. Scowling, he made a house's shadow grip onto Salem's leg shadow, keeping him from being sucked into deaths wreaking arms. Sombra jumped up, a hand pressed onto the distorted floor and kicking both his feet at the same time into Ryuukei's side, banishing him into the black hole. As the originator died, so did the black hole, both Salem and Sombra panting over the adrenalin pulsating through their bodies. The small Deerfolk, Tidofan, raised her ears as they got off their backsides and walked over to her, Sombra having a sort of limp to him.

"Let's get you home, little fawn…" the elder sighed, petting the scared girl on her head. She sat her backside on the ground, her front legs standing straight while her humanoid upper half was still covering her chest. She smiled a little, seeing he had a kind side to him, something she'd never heard of with his kin. Salem wiped the blood from himself, rummaging through the dead demon harnessers belongings; he pulled out the golden pass, grinning sadistically. He slipped it into his pocket, and contacted Nushala to let him know of the interesting news.

"I send them shopping, and they bring us a way to get Sagittarius, nice of them to take down two bounty hunters. Ryuukei and Kaiyō have been a thorn in our side for months. they aren't push overs either, I see why you wanted to make sure Salem had Sombra with him… other than the fact he'd gamble the money away again," Nushala said as he sat next to DriftRider, who gave a quick nod as a yes. He didn't talk much, but it was clear he wasn't happy on how they'd have to get Sagittarius "We have about three weeks until Clash of Blades comes to Pheupoworis, thanks to the golden pass they acquired we don't have to collect thousands of Ywirin, we don't have that kind of money in that exact currency." he nodded again, making the demonic creature hum to himself on what to do. The tournament could kill them, as there were no rules against murder in the ring. A place where there were few rules, but none that protected you. Even the audience were at risk "So, any master plans then? Because if not, we'll be digging our own graves before the damn thing even starts." Nushala chirped as the leader of their bandolier of outcasts glared at him, not that the demon really minded "I have half a mind to lecture you into the afterlife for that look on your face." he rolled his eyes at Nushala's comment, not in the mood for one of his lectures.

Nushala was a demon, 5'9, one of the few that didn't go around killing people for shits and giggles. On top of his head were two very, very large bat ears with pink insides, darker rings showing alongside the pink. Nushala's eyes were black, the only sign of an iris or pupils were rings made out of hieroglyphics that only demons could understand in a dark purple that continuously moved clockwise. Nushala's head was cat like but purely white, no mouth visible or nose and had two pink ovals over his eyes acting as eyebrows. Hiding his neck and part of his chest was a thick mane of black fur, the blackened hair spikes ticking the chin of his mask like face. Nushala had two wings that came from under his shoulder blades, the limbs looked small but they were abnormally strong. His upper arms seemed human, while his lower arms were longer and sort of looked like the lower legs of an animal. His elbows bent backwards, and his hands/feet were dog like in appearance at first but could more like fingers. If that wasn't weird enough, he could walk on walls like a bug thanks to the pads of his paws with pink claws. His actual chest and lower abdomen looked like it belonged on a skeleton, so thin his ribs and spine was visible. His hips had a bit more meat on them, as they slowly grew into his back legs. His back feet were catlike, with completely black fur and black claws. His back legs were rather normal, the knee pointing to the front and his shins not breaking into another knee into ankles that could turn his feet 180 degrees. Under Nushala's chest fur was the front of his chest that was white, also white and hard like his face mask thing with pink symmetrical swirls on it. He also had swirls on his hips. Not mentioning his bunny tail.

"All we can do is prepare ourselves. We have no idea what we'll be up against before and after we get the Grimoire," He finally said, his eyes still holding their glare. Nushala put a hand on DriftRider's shoulder, having him sit down on a chair as he took the cast off of his leg. The demon slowly replaced bandages on DriftRider's body, watching him and seeing that he still had a straight face.

"You won't be going anywhere. You may heal faster than most Drift, but you still have two months to keep off of this leg. I'm willing to slap you in the face for bloody standing." The demon hissed. They were in DriftRider's room at the home base, the owner of said room very unhappy that Nushala wouldn't leave him alone. Dark grey walls, dark oak flooring, a white soft carpet, a large window pointing outside, a couch in front of a TV on a stand coming from the wall and a little coffee table in front of it. The bed was a double, the duvet tucked in under the mattress with the pillows set neatly. He looked out the window at the bright skies and moving clouds. He wasn't in the mood to be locked up indoors all day. Then again, Zalnuagam was scheduled to go underwater soon. Living on top of a Zaratan was a bit stressful, unless you had learnt the habits of this species.

It was a beautiful sight. And a wonderful experience to live on such a beautiful creature. The Zaratan were very, very few in numbers and as they lived on one, they were legally her protectors. Zalnuagam had luscious forests and jungles, waterfalls, a mountain and beaches you could dream of. If Kodan was correct, then her beauty had attracted a dragon to live on her. She had such a vast ecosystem, it was impressive. Who wouldn't want to wake up in the morning to the calls of little Fae's?

The small hope of a better mood was squashed by the presence of Pharynx, the other demon he was 'friends' with. Pharynx was 5'5, the shortest out of everyone that was fully grown. He was made of navy greys, dull gun metal greys and oranges. On his wolf like head were three sets of ears, two on top of his head, two on the sides and two under the second set. They were dark blueish grey with lighter grey rimming's and orange interiors. Where his eyes should be he had two dark horns with orange tips that curved upwards. His nose was like a goat but with orange colouring, as well as orange lips and his muzzle was light grey while a strip of dark bluey grey went from his chin to his nose. His neck was a little thin, but it was alright. His shoulders were dark too, a ring of the same colouring near the dark colour of the shoulders. In the middle of his collarbone was a singular eye with a goat's pupil, the iris in neon orange. Around his lower abdomen were tightly wrapped bandages as he felt left out. He had dark orange pants and fingerless gloves; around his waist was a loose dark blue grey sash similar to the dark colouring on his skin, and tassels dangles from the sash. Pharynx had a tail with fur in light green, then a darker green and then to the dark grey, bandages at the end to keep fur from dangling onto the floor. His legs were normal until you got to the first ankle that went backwards and his feet pointed downwards. Oddly his toes were curved from the under of his feet and then set straight with light orange claws. His arms were the strangest thing about him. They weren't even attached to his body. The arms floated around him, and could go as far as five meters away from his body but no further, as they had an invisible connection to him. They looked like they were entirely dark blue grey, with the orange gloves and orange claws. Pharynx's left arm floated in front of DriftRider, showing a sheet of paper, which had detailed that someone was kidnapping, torturing, raping then killing people. Leaving them in public places. The calling card was that they had their hearts cut out.

"100,000 Creqerani? Hm, not often Sluafogaes calls for people like us…" Nushala said in surprise, taking it into his hand "I think Pandora should go, she's the best at this sort of thing." Pharynx had other ideas. Pharynx mentioned two other names with a dirty grin "Sombra and Scythe? Why those two? Sombra is on his way back from that town Halivaara, and Scythe prefers to work alone."

"Pandora needs someone to keep her in line. She's a diagnosed Sociopath, and Scythe will be there to look after Sombra. He's sort of killed someone, you both know how he gets about stuff like that." the other demon explained, Nushala agreeing. Out of all of them, Sombra was the one who hated killing the most. He only killed that other guy because of the black hole, even though he'd probably saved a lot of people he probably wasn't dealing with it well "it's near Eoflatsea in Stroad Clana. His sweet tooth should cool him off for a bit."

"Pharynx," Nushala started "You have good intentions, but I'm not sure we should have Sombra going on another job straight after this one." DriftRider shot a look at Nushala, making the demon sigh "Though, I guess sending him to City of Sweets wouldn't be so bad." They agreed, and the two demons left to arrange for the three to go to Stroad Clana.

DriftRider looked back out the window, seeing the beach that blanketed the Zaratan's shell. He heard a yawn and looked over at a small bed he had made himself. Nushala had gotten each and every one of the team a pet that matched her personalities, at first nobody was pleased with the idea but they all got used to it. For DriftRider, he was given a small Manticore cub that Nushala had rescued. Her name was Emberkit, a little beast that had grown on him. She had a murky reddish-brown base coat, which contrasted her bed. Emberkit had darker maroon markings over her body, under her eyes, a diamond on her forehead, the toes of her paws and stripe that went over her shoulders and her thighs, the final marking being the tip of her scorpion tail. Emberkit's mouth was a dark grey that trailed down her neck, chest and her belly, the tips of her ears, the tips of some fur pieces of the fur on her head and the dark grey over her eyes that aligned with the maroon under her eyes. She had dark grey stripes under the maroon ones on her shoulders and thighs, then a nearly black scorpion tail. Her lime green eyes filled with life as she opened them to look into his strange ones. Emberkit slowly got up, waving her backside in the air as she stretched and slowly walked over to her owner, climber onto his lap and sharing the view. She purred, a paw tapping his hand playfully.

They had three weeks to prepare for a tournament that could end their lives. All of team Shadow Wind could die, and their quest would be unfinished. His eyes narrowed, the idea of Sagittarius being so close yet so far away was making him agitated. It was hard getting money to pay for all of their equipment, all of the damages they caused, their shopping and then there was Sombra's very expensive court battles. They would need even more money after this to pay for all of their injuries… not to mention pay off their debts. The small manticore mewed at him. If only life could be simpler.


	3. Chapter Two (July 14th, Year 4278)

The flight to Sluafogaes was not an enjoyed one. Sombra had just got back from the damned continent of crime, and now he was returning with two very hostile women. He might even prefer Salem compared to these two very competitive opposite of the male sex. He watched the two having a shouting match, unsure whether or not he should get involved…

Pandora, or MoonShadow as she preferred, was an Anthro Panther. Her tail was the strangest thing about her, as it was two and a half meters long, something he avoided when she waved it around. It was pretty damn powerful, enough to hold her weight on it. She was a little taller than him, 6'4, which in itself was strange for a female. Her face and head belonged to a slightly chubby panther with humanoid features. Her black nose twitched as she smelled the air around them, obviously angered even more by how he was watching them. She had neon blue eyes with slit pupils, as well as a lighter blackish grey around her almond eyes, showing them off. She wore simple armour that covered her upper and lower abdomen, a very dark brown with silver metal on the breast parts, the stomach and lining down the back, also it had a high colour. Around her neck looked like a collar but was her necklace, with a pendant tightly attached to the choice of wears. On her back were two Katanas she hadn't named, and refused to let Kodan name. Her bottoms consisted of fur tight leggings, and she wore special Anthro shoes that left her paws free for the ground while it covered the ankles to before the knee. She was glaring fire at him, and he was a little afraid of what she'd do.

Scythe was an Elf, about 5'9, a blind one with an EVA on her shoulder that helped her see. Her skin was a deathly pale, her eyes a cataract red and her hair a smoking white. Scythe wore bronze, gold and copper armour that had been melted into her clothing to his confusion. Around her neck was a v shaped metal back that connected to the armour on her arms. On the right side, it was smooth and the armour moved like bugs armour, perfectly in line to give her the best protection and freedom of movement. Scythe's left side was especially made for her EVA to sit, thick enough so his claws couldn't hurt her and enough for him to sit comfortably on. She had thick gauntlets that covered her hands, fingers and even her elbows. Around her chest was armour that over protected her chest assets, keeping them up and out of the way, and the metal piece fitting around her like it had always been a part of her. She wore leather leggings and a belt with a golden buckle, thigh high boots covering the rest of her legs. Attached to the band around her neck and covering the one-sided bandolier on her back was a cape that was just off the ground and the hood was almost always over her head. Attached to the bandolier was a pouch that held all of her hand made arrows, though the cape never covered these as she needed access to them. The bow itself was under the cape out of sight. There were so many swirling patterns made of gold and bronze he had trouble keeping up without looking like a perverted old man, which he wasn't to their delight.

Scythe's EVA was a small Chibikinol called Chikia. He was beautiful. He was about the size of a large cat and had a rabbit/kangaroo like form. His main colour scheme was dark lavender that covered his body. Chikia had silvery ghostly pale lavender toes, fingers, rims around his long ears, cheek fur, lines over his brows like eyebrows and a patch on his snout. His thicker fur, like the luscious fur on his tail, the mane that went upwards from around his neck to over one of his eyes was the same colour, the fur in his ears were the same colour too. Chikia's paw pads were a light blue, as was his claws and his irises, the pupil being a much darker blue. He wasn't rare per say, just not very easy to find as they scampered up trees faster than you could say there's one.

Sombra had brought his pet Void Viper named Eternity, as he had problems with being in crowds. He couldn't bring her to Halivaara because they didn't allow Void Vipers. She was a shadow snake to be simple about it, but he loved her. She slowly slithered out of his shadow and around his neck, part of her resting on his shoulder and her head up, looking around. Along her back were spines that could be venomous to those who she didn't trust. Her eyes were glowing purple spots and a purple hue could be seen as the outline of her mouth. She opened her mouth to yawn, to someone who didn't understand Void Vipers; they may have thought that her cheeks had scratches that broke through muscle and skin into her mouth. Holes if you wanted to be basic. They were just markings, designed to make her look more dangerous than she already was, just lights that turned on when her mouth opened. Pandora was mad she couldn't bring her pet along. He was a good boy; it was just that he was classed as an equine while they were legally allowed to have their pets. Scythe was blind, and he had… his own problems.

"So, Bra, wanna tell me why we're here?" Pandora demanded, making him look at the Anthro as she glared. DriftRider was the glare master, so he wasn't intimidated by her. From what he could figure out, this person used rohypnol to get his or her victims. It is pretty hard to get a hold of such a drug, but he was curious was to why the hearts were cut out? Maybe it was something symbolic.

"Please stop calling me that…" Sombra sighed at her stupid nickname for him. The image of that man, Ryuukei being sucked into that sort of black hole flashed through his eyes again. Seeing his form fold, crunch and be squashed into that circular tear in reality was plaguing him. His blood and bones squirting out. And then the fella Kaiyō, seeing him explode made his stomach twist. How could Salem be fine with the fact he exploded someone without a second thought "someone was kidnapping, torturing, raping then killing people. Dumping their bodies in public places, the common occurrence is their hearts are cut out. From ages six to seventy."

"We're here to take him out, got it," Scythe said, her eyes emotionless as she didn't use them to express emotion. Chikia told her that Sombra was closer to her than Pandora, making her unsure of what she should do. Ever since she had met the man, she could tell something was off about him. He claimed to be human, but how could that be? It was insane enough that Bulletflow, W0lf and DriftRider were human and in their team. Yes, their powers were impressive for humans, but what Sombra could do couldn't be done by a skilled elf let alone a human. And his Void Viper, those creatures obeyed nothing, not even nature, and here he was with one around his neck. Nushala got him an Alce, basically a wingless griffin, but he got his Void Viper all by himself. Elves could tell what species someone was by looking at their eyes, how coincidental that she was blind and Chikia didn't have this ability. He wasn't human; nothing Sombra said could make her think otherwise.

The area the last body had been placed was empty thanks to authorities. The town had hired the team to find out who did it, and take them out. Either Scythe or Pandora, as Sombra didn't like death. The houses were rather tall, and looked as old as time. The stones were smooth and evenly placed, much to Sombra's delight. The smell of flowers wafting from pots hanging from open windows, the thatching roofs reflecting the light and the sounds of life within. In the middle was a statue of a stone man, time had chipped away whatever he or she resembled. The statue was in the stance of a knight pointing their blade to the ground of the pedestal.

"Wait, how do we avoid going to the jail for killing this sick person?" Sombra asked, looking over to Pandora "Did you find a loop hole?"

"Are you afraid of Clowns?" She questioned with a smirk. He didn't get the joke, to her annoyance "Of course I found a damn loop hole, Bra. It's illegal to break a contract, and since we're carrying out a contract we can't go to jail for the murder. Plus, they'll be happy to be rid of the bastard, whoever it is," She said very proudly, hands on her hips and her tail swaying quickly in a 'snapping' motion. He and Scythe both shivered at the idea of a clown being here. Those things were monsters, and the way they killed was both hilarious but terrifying. He'd seen someone that'd been attacked by one once, and it was vile.

To their surprise the 'sheriff' of the town walked over to them. They were not expecting a Felitaur to be into this kind of thing, but then again stereotyping them as soldiers probably wasn't a good idea. It was like saying elves lived forever, or that the world was black and white to good and evil. Why can't there be yellow good or green evil?

Back to the sheriff. The 'human half' had dark brownish skin and hair in a Black Half Shaved Hairstyle, but in a very dark brown. His eye colour was a very dark brown orange with slit pupils that could barely be seen. He didn't wear any clothes, as most of the Centauri race never did enjoy clothing. He had swirling tattoos on his shoulders, elbows, collarbones and wrists. His 'animal' half was that of a large Bengal tiger, a bit larger than normal but it made him much more interesting. He wore a necklace that had the pentagram, the symbol of the authorities in Uplaeton, ironically standing for peace. Around his waist was a belt that held all of the items normal authorities would have dotted around their clothing. Felitaur utility belt. He walked over to them, taking immediate interest in the three different species. A human, an elf and an Anthro. The rumours were true; this group did indeed have one of the rarest species among them, humans. How fascinating.

"I assume you three are here for the contract we sent to you." They nodded, Sombra finding it very interesting to see a Felitaur with this skin complexion "The body was found here yesterday, hanging from a noose of her entrails from that statue." The Felitaur pointed at the old statue. They'd cleaned off the blood pretty well, impressive "Do you have a permit for those animals? The Chibikinol is understandable, but a Void Viper?"

"Yes, even when we don't understand how he got it either, but she keeps him calm in crowded places like towns or cities. Though I don't hear that many for some reason," Scythe stated, Chikia chirping what the area looked like to her. The Felitaur explained that the area had been closed off, and they were still questioning people to who could have done the horrible deed. A young girl was spotted wondering around, taking photos of the area "Kid, get out of here, this is serious business."

"Sorry, I'm just amazed this murderer has gotten away with this disgusting stuff for so long! I just wanted to see if there were any clues," she said with an innocent smile that Sombra didn't like. Children were so creepy, especially those smiles of theirs. His predicament with a child was the only exclusion of the grouping of these youthful monsters. At a young age children are sociopaths until they grow a sense of morality. Unless you were Pandora, who didn't grow her sense of morality. She wasn't above manipulating her friends to get what she wanted, and she seemed to love using him when it came to her own sweet tooth.

The young girl's hair was shoulder length and pearly white, her eyes a beautiful cyan filled with life. Her jumper was as white as her hair, and a black shirt could be seen underneath. She had a lovely school skirt and thigh high socks and small black shoes. She looked adorable. Her smile a little warming.

"You're a human aren't you?" Sombra nodded to her question "Awesome! I'm an Angel. My wings had to be amputated because of a kind of cancer that only hurts Angel's." how specific? "I've always wanted to see a human." The little girl that couldn't be more than thirteen took photos of him, not that Sombra didn't really mind "My names Gadreel, what's yours?"

"My name is Sombra. These two are MoonShadow and Scythe, it's a pleasure to meet you little Gadreel, but best you go home now. Monsters lurk at night." The small angel nodded and skipped away, taking photos of other things around her. What a cute kid "now that is out of the way, Felitaur, can you give us more information?" It was weird that she was out here, but kids are strange creatures.

"It's Kodemorn… and not really. All we have is someone taking out the hearts of people, and the tortures those people endured where vile enough to make Gordon vomit, and he's a Gargoyle," the Felitaur stated, Scythe and Pandora already having a look around. Well, Chikia and Pandora, but that wasn't important.

The Felitaur laid on the ground as Sombra looked at the statue. All the so called authorities had, was only evidence of torture and hearts taken out. Over a hundred dead and they had nothing to go off of. All serial killers like to leave their signature, not just the way they killed but a little thing that differentiated them from every other killer, so where was this one? Scythe and Pandora started arguing over something, meaning he could do a little 'dark magic' so to speak to find what they had missed. His eyes narrowed on an engraving in the statue, a badly etched wing. He motioned the Felitaur Kodemorn to have a look, the breed of Centauri confirming that it had been seen in other crime scenes, but nobody thought it was tied to the murders, since kids liked to vandalise things. That didn't give them a lead.

He was most furious that this sick person was not just harming adults but kids too. Why? All he or she got from this were hearts. Maybe that was symbolic, that his or her heart was broken. It didn't make a lot of sense and he didn't like it at all. Pandora for once agreed with Sombra, that this person needed to drown in the depths of some kind of hell yet undiscovered. Eternity hissed, sensing something she didn't like. Sombra listened to her, following her directions to what was disturbing her. It was a piece of Xaglaitrium? A metal that could cause a horrible disease if touched by skin, fur or scales. Banshee Affliction. Something that could be fatal if not treated immediately, and even then the true cause had yet to be found, so as did the cure.

Kodemorn walked behind Sombra, glaring at the volatile metal. He pulled a communicational device from his belt of many things, calling his department to remove the dangerous metal. But how did it get here? Perhaps this was the murder weapon? Sombra petted the head of Eternity, whom hissed in delight. Scythe scowled when Chikia gave her the news, from her knowledge alone; there were only three species that were immune to that poison.

"Interview all Akzeelzee, Thriae and Werewolves. They're, to my knowledge, the only creature's immune to this metal's potency. Pucks should be considered as well, I'm not too sure about them," Scythe said, her Chibikinol chirping as he saw Eternity stare at him, the small male feeling threatened by her presence. A male Kihlajasa showed himself, his skin a deep pink, eyes a light blue. He had an immediate problem with Sombra, not that he thought of himself as a threat. A female Lidhesse showed herself, her missing brows rose as she studied the three in front of her.

"I see," she started with a thick accent, writing something down on her notepad. She was 1'2, very average for her kind. On the top of her head were her ears, though they looked like horns about to connect. Her whole body was a milky white as patches of pale greens smudged around her nude body. They didn't need clothes as their intimae parts were on the inside until the party started. Her sclera were mustard yellow, her irises a darker green yellow while her pupils were simple back circles. And she had two small horns coming from the sides of her cheeks. Her head shape looked alien like, as you didn't know where her ear horns started or where her head ended. She had tiny arms with three fingers and a thumb on each that looked pointed, but her claws were the same colour as her skin. Same for her simple little feet. She had three toes and three curved claws with the same colour as her skin.

"Contracting them was a mistake; they'll take out the murderer but take the bloody town with them." The Kihlajasa hissed angrily through the grit of his oval shaped teeth. Pandora rolled her eyes at him, her tail whipping at nothingness. The ride here took thirteen hours, and she was not in the mood to deal with this crap. It was getting dark already and they'd just got there! This was stupider than Salem in a magic shop.

"I'm going to have to document your abilities, so we can identify what damage is from you and what is from the monster," the 'badge' around her neck made the statement more of an order. She looked up at their eyes, her neck craning. This was not going to be fun. An elf, an Anthro and what could be assumed to be a human. Odd, she didn't know humans could tame Void Vipers?

"I use a weapon, MoonShadow uses wind and Sombra uses shadows. I'd like to ask for an inn to stay in with three separate rooms please, we'll kill each other if we're in the same room," Scythe said to the Lidhesse, who nodded and jotted down the information "Guys, let's get something to eat and let them move that stuff out of here."

"Don't tell me what to do ya blind bat!" Pandora snapped, her tail nearly whipping the Lidhesse in the face, to her annoyance. No way was Pandora going to apologise; she had better things to waste her breath on.

"Bats are not blind, they see almost better than we do," Sombra corrected as the Kihlajasa decided to lead them to an inn; he didn't trust them enough to simply give them directions. Pandora slapped him over the head, not in the mood for things like this "Ow!" He frowned at the Anthro, said Anthro walking next to the Kihlajasa, sticking out her sand paper tongue at the unpleased man. He shook his head, glaring at the woman.

The building was simple, even when it looked a single story. Perhaps it was one of those kinds of inns when everything was beneath the ground? That or it had Rhodonite powered rooms. It had a nice stone porch, with stone platform deck steps, that went nearly all around the building, as a round smaller building with an open burning fire was for those who just wanted to sit outside and not be cold. On the same right side it had a patio roof with wooden beams keeping it up as it was connected to the roof, slightly sloping. It had windows and an old wizard looking door, the roof poking over the door and four wooden beams keeping it securely up. At the back there was a building for the stabled creatures, the wonders that could be in there was not to be explored at this moment.

The floors of the inside were wooden, polished and well kept. The walls had been painted warm beige, lights from both captured sunlight and candles. Far to the left was the main bar, where stools were sat on as drinks from the shelves behind it were taken to be drunk. Neatly on the floor were bench tables, wooden tables where the planks of seats were attached to the table. On the walls were pictures, the head trophies of beaten beasts, memories of older days and other bits and bobs that could be put inside of a frame. Hanging from the ceiling were two fans, and in the middle was an old styled chandelier that lit up most of the room. Across from the bar on the other side was a fire place where the flames danced with the song of heat.

There were others that were in this place too. A female centaur maid that was walking around, giving people alcohol to the ones staying in and was topless. The customers were perfectly happy about it for obvious reasons. A vampire was running the bar, which appeared to be a day walker. Not a lot of people knew there were two kinds of vampires, the peaceful day walkers that make great beer and then horrifying night stalkers that would rather rip your throat out than make a beer. There were even fairies in here? Ooh a harpy.

While Sombra went to discuss the rooms, Pandora and Scythe sat at a table, the Anthro glaring at everyone else in the room. She did not like this. Nope. Hanging someone with their insides is pathetically meek. What they should've done was pull the intestines out of their butts then knit them into presents to their kids for whatever holiday. That would be so much more fun. The Void Viper slithered onto the table, snapping Pandora out of her blood thirsty haze. Damn snake.

"There is a complication to the rooming," Sombra stated as he returned, glaring at Pandora "There are two rooms free, but one of them has a bunkbed, so how is that going to work?" These two didn't like each other, and Sombra couldn't be with a girl. He stared at the centaur with a confused expression as Scythe started to plan out how the sleeping arrangements would work. Pandora sniggered, remembering that little Bra hadn't actually seen a woman naked before, how adorable.

"I and Sombra will have the double bedded room, Pandora; you have the one on your own. And Sombra, keep your snake around your neck would you?" Scythe said with a frown as Chikia chirped to her, describing the layout of her new surroundings. Sombra did as she asked, taking Eternity back around his neck, the Void Viper happily hissing at anyone that looked at her funny.

"Why don't we just have Bra check the place out while we're asleep? The freak will be able to see a lot more than us in the dark, thanks to his shadowy powers," She purred, raising a furred brow at the man who just sat down next to Scythe quietly, not looking at her. She noticed his grim face, and cocked a grin "Are you that upset over someone getting hung by their stomach stuffing? You saw a guy blow up." this was becoming fun, watching him squirm at the memory was very gratifying "All of that blood rushing around your feet, the smell, and the look in his eyes as you kicked him into that black hole. The horror of seeing his beloved brother explode in front of his eyes, all of those bones and insides painting the landscape?" She laughed as he got up and ran to the bathroom, enjoying his misery.

"You're a different kind of evil," Scythe said as Chikia chirped to her what he could hear. Pandora didn't care; she never liked Sombra, so seeing him suffer made her feel happier about being stuck with him and this blind moron. They waited until the 'human' walked back to them, sitting at the table and just looking at the table's surface, even without her eyes she saw how uncomfortable he was. Weren't men supposed to be as blood thirsty as Pandora? Hm, maybe Sombra was just one of the special ones. A golden apple on a simple tree.

Sombra got up and sat at the bar, Eternity slithering from his neck onto the counter, her glowing purple eyes going to Sombra's covered ones. The vampire running the bar smiled at the strange shadow snake, also interested in Sombra and his teammates. He looked young, but then again all vampires did, he had messy black hair and emerald sheen eyes, his skin may look normal compared to other people, but for a vampire he had a tan. It was interesting. He had a light brown shirt with rolled up sleeves, a black bow tie and a black apron tied around his waist.

"Well i'll be a gorgon's severed head, that's a blooming Void Viper." The vampire smiled in fascination, Sombra looking up at the vampire, not often people were happy to see Eternity "She's a beauty. Can I touch her? It would be an honour." He gave a small nod, the snake tolerated the vampire's touch on her unnatural body "The names Christian, what is yours good sir?"

"Sombra," He said as he watched his beloved fellow shadow dweller slither around his arm, resting on his shoulders with her head up with such pride he wished he could carry "Do you know of any Akzeelzee, Thriae or Werewolves? We're here trying to catch your… killer." If he thought about those scenes anymore he'd turn green like a Scitixzuz.

"We only have one werewolf in Llaneybyder and that's Shelly, she lives on Bloodforge Avenue, door… twenty-five, or twenty-six, I'm not sure which but one has a green door." Pandora would kill her, and Scythe, he didn't know. He didn't want innocent blood spilt. No, how he worked was that he sent these sad and damaged people to the law so they'd be finished for good. But, maybe that was why he never went on jobs alone anymore? Because he wasn't like the others. Shadow Wind had all killed at least once. The man, Ryuukei was not his first killing, and he was afraid it wouldn't be his last "You alright there, bud?"

"I'm fine." He looked up at the vampire of an age he did not know, Christian "I need you to keep quiet about Shelly with those two here. That werewolf's life depends on it." That wasn't entirely true, as the elf was mysterious to him. She was strange, rare and something he wished to understand but couldn't. Pandora, he couldn't stand her, she was something hell had kicked out for bad behaviour. He didn't know Scythe well enough to judge her. They'd known each other two years now, but knew little of each other "order me a Viniq Shimmer Liquor Onyx." He needed something to wash down the vile feeling Pandora had pushed through him. Evil feline, he wished she'd get her comeuppance sooner rather than later.

Scythe was thinking the same thing, Pandora was some sort of evil, and no 'tragic' backstory could fix that. Everyone had tragedy in their life; it was no excuse for who they are. Said cat from hell pulled out her phone and started texting Pharynx, having a very bland expression on her furry face.

Can I kill the whole town? And Bra? I want this done quickly

No Pandora. And leave Sombra alone, he's only really there for the sweets

I don't need to be babysitting the coward

Well yeah, that's Scythe's job. I'm trying to help you not be a bitch here

Good luck with that bird throat

Pandora Alucard you will shut up and get along. For that, Sombra is in charge

What!?

Yep, he's in charge now. No point trying to hide these messages, I'm already texting Sombra to let him know

But he's a pussy! I made him throw up in a bathroom just mentioning death

He isn't a pussy; he has a conscience, something you lack

Just shut up and do as he says, or i'll just have to ground you

Fine…

Pandora loudly grunted in fury at Pharynx's choice. Chikia, peaking at her messages, squeaked to Scythe, who smiled at the revelation. What better punishment than to damage her pride. Everyone in the inn that led underground drew their attention to the doorway as a new comer walked inside. A Pragirdu walked in, gaining attention wherever he stepped or stalked. He wore clothing that covered his body, though he left his face open to be seen. A hood was over his head, on the left side the tribal pattern of a bear could be made out. He wore a long dark coat that had large cuffs and split into three pieces around the waist, two on his thighs and one for the back. Down the front were four lines, two on each side that connected to another line that went around his waist area. On the right he had a sword seethe sown into the cloth of his coat, hand down from the looks of it. On his chest was a pocket on the left side that was clipped shut, and on the other side he had badges of past conquests. It was sleeveless, and on his right shoulder was a pauldron that seemed to be made from a metal that had leather covering it. From the back sported a long cape that nearly kissed the floor, seemingly hovering. His under outfit was sleeved, hiding his arms from the touch of judging eyes. He had thick elbow length gloves made from animal hide, metal plating on his wrist, knuckles and fingers for hitting harder. On his right arm he had a metal band that he could use in defence, and on the left he had a strange looking thing he could use to snipe people. Right defence. Left offence. But of course, the most fascinating thing about the Pragirdu was his face. They didn't have organs or skin. No, they were skeletons on fire. His skull was black, telling he'd lived a long time.

"Get me a pint of Drink Shadow," The Pragirdu asked, the only thing moving was his jaw bone which looked very creepy and intimidating. When he sat down, only Sombra wasn't afraid of him. Their kind were good with curses after all "Aren't you gonna screw off like the others, bub?" Pandora glared at him and the flaming skull man. First Pharynx screws her over, and now little Bra was making pals? Nope, not happening. Before she got up Scythe flicked her nose, directing the cat's anger to her "Christian, did those morons with star friendship necklaces find the killer, or do I have to get involved?" He asked the vampire. Gaining Sombra's attention.

"They hired us, so screw off flame brain!" Pandora shouted angrily. The vampire grinned and waved to her as he gave the Pragirdu his drink, his abnormally long canines showing themselves. The living skeleton didn't acknowledge her, knowing that stupidly prideful people like that get more ticked off when they're ignored than they do if you yell at them "Don't you dare ignore me!" Someone had a short fuse.

Scythe squirted water in her face, the Anthro panther hissing with her ears lowered, tail swaying in fury. Christian placed down a pint of cloudy glowing alcohol and a glass of black glittery wine, going off to talk with other customers. The Pragirdu took his drink all in one go, nudging Sombra with his elbow and walked out, silently asking to follow him. Sombra tried drinking the glass of shining black in one go, though ended up choking a bit on it for a minute. How the hell did he drink all of tat in one go.

Sombra followed the Pragirdu, his Void Viper slithering into his coat to get warm now the sun was setting and the moons were climbing. He was curious as to why this strange kin had wanted to talk to him? He had little to give to the table of information, but maybe this guy knows something about this killer?

"I knew who you were the moment I walked inside," He said, his voice whispered and gravelled as he could only speak through the sound of his crackling flames "I do wonder what someone like you is doing all the way out here? A little out of your element aren't you, Sombra?" This man knew. The revelation widened his covered eyes, looking deep into his empty sockets "the name is Jorge Batista, The Demon Slayer." How did Jorge know about him? Nobody knew about him! How'd he know that terrible secret that plagued him more than anyone's death could? "I won't say anything. It's clear you've rejuvenated, so it would only put another price on my head… and if what I've heard is true, I'm not sure I want to be on DriftRider's hit list."

"I'm a human. If people can identify themselves as plants, I can do the same." Jorge didn't say anything to the statement. He didn't have any way to show emotions, so Sombra had no idea what he was thinking. Deciding to move on from this stressing moment… "Are you going to try and help me get this killer?" The Pragirdu made a snort somehow, but the tone meant a yes "Good, the lead's this way."

Jorge glowed brightly at night, it seemed. A living torch. But they had something in common, they used to be things they aren't now. Pragirdi all had something in common, they were flaming skeletons. But they were in every race, considered a subspecies to every race known to those who lived upon Jabradus. This man used to be a human, but now, was a Pragirdu, and he didn't seem to mind. He followed Sombra, the Void Viper poking her head from his clothes in curiosity. Sombra looked at Jorge for a few minutes, walking behind him as this person probably knew what he was doing and knew where he was going.

"You do the talking. People don't like it when flaming skulls talk with them." Sombra couldn't even say anything, what was he meant to say to that statement. No, he wouldn't like to talk to a flaming skull, if he hadn't seen much worse. But as this guy knew his darkest terrors that kept him up at night, best to keep quiet. He led him to the house, knocking on the door and waiting for this Shelly lady to come. She didn't answer. Before Sombra knocked again, Jorge kicked the door off its hinges. That worked too. Inside the house was ransacked, everything upside down and broken, no sign of Shelly. There went their lead. "Cerberus' Nine Balls!"

"that's one way to put it… how are we going to get any information while our best lead is probably… not among us" he couldn't say dead, it brought up images he wished to forget. The Pragirdu didn't have eyes, but Sombra could feel Jorge's gaze on him.

"I'll have a look around. What I'm going to ask you to do is to keep an eye on those girls of yours. The Anthro especially makes me uncomfortable, and judging by that grimace on your face, I'm not the only one who isn't fond of the black cat." Sombra looked to the ground as he felt wrong for not liking her. She just wasn't raised right. Something had to have happened to make her like that, right? Or, she was just a douche by nature "Go to your allies. I'll talk to some underground friends of mine… but I warn you Sombra, there will be people who will be after your head, and you won't be able to hide behind Shadow Wind or DriftRider forever…"

Sombra took in his words, nodding and walking back into the tavern, thinking about the warning. He got his phone out, deciding to let DriftRider know if this development.

Drift, I've found a Pragirdu that knows

If he knows about you he knows about Shadow Wind

I'm getting very concerned about this Drift.

Don't worry Sombra, it'll be fine

You sure?

I'm positive. Now tell me all you know about this killer

They cut the heart out, but leave a wing shape as a signature. I did have a lead, but she's missing

At least you had something. I and Blizzard will have a look into wing shapes and what they mean

Thank you

We'll text you as soon as we find out anything. Good luck.

I'm gonna need it with these two… I need a vacation…

Don't us all. And tell Pandora to get laid

Wait, what?

I know less about women than you do, and that's saying something. But when they're horny, they're bitches

First thing, yes. Second, I don't think that's true

Blizzard told me, she's our translator to the female race

Fine, I'll tell her to get laid. Though they'd have to be brain dead to even consider it…

I need to go. I locked Kodan and Sora in the bathroom, and it's getting hot in there

I hope that is not an innuendo…

I'm not going to find out

Sombra put his phone away, shaking his head as the tavern came into view. Eternity hissed, alarming Sombra that he wasn't alone. He turned around as it got darker and darker, his senses becoming sharper and sharper, his powers growing stronger and stronger. As the moons begun to shine upon the land, his shadow powers kept climbing to an outrageous strength. Every night, he could feel the night pulsing within is veins.

His Void Viper had detected an EVA that enjoyed preying on young cubs, calves, chicks and other names for kids. A Cockatrice. Dammit, why did he get the funny looking dangerous beasties? Its tail was three metres long while its body was a metre long. Its wings were he span of a metre and a half, so a big scaled birdie. It had glowing empty yellow eyes and a jagged beak searching for raw fresh flesh. In short terms, it was a dragon chicken, but instead of breathing fire it turned things to stone with its eyes and its tail had a poisonous barb on it. Wonderful.

The Cockatrice hissed at him, its wings waving and tail lashing around. Eternity went to bite it, but Sombra held her back, not wanting his dear pet to turn into a statue. An arrow hit the ground, scaring the vile chicken dragon creature. Another arrow made it turn clawed heels and run away, most likely to go and kill someone with its look. Scythe walked over to him, the male of their team displeased that he once again couldn't tell how she was feeling from her eyes alone. He told her nothing, and simply followed the elf as the little purple beastie on her shoulder told her where to go.

Scythe listened to Chikia as he described Sombra's movements and actions/reactions. He was up to something, and she didn't like it at all. What had he and the Pragirdu talked about? Was there a failed lead that he was embarrassed about? Did he walk in on the first naked woman in his life? Well that last one wasn't entirely true, he saw that topless centaur. They returned to the Tavern, the three settling inside of their moderately kept rooms. A wooden old bunkbed, a desk and a simple candle attached to the wall that Scythe had lit. Sombra's pet slithered onto the desk to sleep, while Sombra decided to sleep in the shadows instead of the bed that he doubted could hold his weight. Scythe simply lay on the bottom bunk and went out like a light, the man wondering how she could sleep in her armour as he fell asleep in the lull of darkness.

The morning was miserable. Sombra had a Cheesy Artichoke and a lasagne delight made with minced unicorn, Pandora ate a mug made of bacon filled with melted cheddar and Scythe ate cockatrice enchiladas. Not healthy, but it tasted good. They were outside and searching, looking for something for them to do until the next person died.

Pandora moved away from the S twins and headed out on her own. There was nothing interesting about them, and when did Pharynx get the balls to order her around? The Anthro heard someone following her, turning to see the Kihlajasa officer, his smaller set of arms crossed at her and the little Lidhesse right behind him.

"Why are you following me?" Pandora ordered, her own arms crossed. They didn't answer, which was annoying. Her nose twitched, ears flapped and her tail swayed, giving off singles not to be messed with. The message was received, and not ignored.

"I am Officer Eucaloris, and this is my partner Officer Zahnajauh." the little Lidhesse said as her neck was again craned at the tall woman. She pouted, but didn't mention it "We've done a background check on you and… well, we're very worried for the citizens of our town. That and you're wanted in over forty countries…" Pandora grinned with pride, a wanted woman that would never be caught as long as the wind still blew "That isn't a good thing, Miss MoonShadow."

"Well, officer munchkin and officer elephant face. I don't need to worry about that, do I? We're under contract, we can't break the contract. I double checked and I'm not wanted in this country. Yet…" Pandora smirked, the Kihlajasa apparently named Zahnajauh scowling down at her at the impressive height of 8'9. She wasn't intimidated at all; it'd take more than that to scare the cat woman.

"That is enough." Pandora scowled as the coward of their team walked up to them, Scythe nowhere in sight "I apologise, I would prefer if we can work with the authorities instead of against them. We don't know this place or these people, they do." He looked at her with a frown of disappointment. Eucaloris and Zahnajauh both looked at Sombra, finding him more trustworthy than the feline.

"Listen Bra, just because Pharynx says you're in charge does not mean I have to listen to you! I can do just fine on my own!" she shouted, glaring fire down at the man who shook his head. They weren't friends, and he doubted they ever would be. Unlike TV shows, you don't always live with your friends when you live in an apartment, which is what the Zaratan's mountain had been turned into. Kind of.

They had a space to fill, and for some reason DriftRider chose Pandora out of all of them, even to this day nobody really knows why Drift chose her. Then again, he doesn't make a lot of sense at the time; it can take up to two years until a decision makes sense.

Pandora noticed a strange looking anthro. He looked to be a mix of a Doberman anthro and a scorpion anthro, though the only scorpion thing about him was his scorpion tail. How strange? She didn't know that they could cross breed. He looked like he was about 6'1, well-built and seemed to be in his late twenties. He had a black wife beater with a green spider on the front, dark brown jeans and blue white laced sneakers. Since when could a scorpion and a Doberman mix? The bloke dropped a red backpack by a bench and continued like he didn't even notice. A certain noise started to irritate Zahnajauh. A strange ticking noise, like a broken clock. A noise that made the four begin to feel very nervous.

Tick…

Tick…

Tick…

Tick…

Tick…


End file.
